


doctor's visit

by pedropascallovebot



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Needles, Shirbert, modern au but if you squint it can be read as canon time, whatever floats your boat!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 11:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21319474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pedropascallovebot/pseuds/pedropascallovebot
Summary: turns out, gilbert isn't the only one afraid of needles.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 162





	doctor's visit

**Author's Note:**

> episode seven was by far my favorite of the entire series. i nearly cried three times man!!! while this fic doesn't have anything to do with the ep, it was sitting in my drafts for the longest time so i figured i brush it off and publish it. enjoy!!!!

A simple checkup led Anne to the exam table, the doctor finishing up as she breathed out a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to be in this room anymore.

It was all Gilbert’s idea, really. Anne was fine. Totally, completely fine. A little cold wasn’t enough to bring her down, let alone take a day off of work for it. However, Gilbert being- well, Gilbert, had decided a doctors visit couldn’t hurt. 

“_You’re_ a doctor,” she had protested when he brought up the idea. “Can’t you just examine me?”

“I’m pre med,” he corrected her. “And I’m also biased. I don’t want to miss anything that could be seriously wrong just because of that.”

So they ended up in a town over, Anne’s entire body aching and wanting nothing more than to just go home and lay next to her boyfriend in his apartment and enjoy his warmth. She was cold, her throat had been itching all day, and she couldn’t breathe through her nose. She could hardly hold in her excitement when the doctor put away his equipment, signaling they were done.

“It seems you’re just suffering from a cold, nothing too extreme” he said, rising from his chair. “However-“

Anne’s heart dropped at that word. What did he mean _however_? Why wasn’t he done? What else was there to do?

“It’d be a wise idea to get a flu shot. It’s spreading like crazy this year. It wouldn’t hurt.”

Her entire body had tensed up. She immediately shook her head, and went to get up off the table. The doctors eyes widened, turning his body to open the door.

“I’ll leave you to think about it in the waiting room- no pressure. Just a thought.”

Anne knew it wasn’t a big deal. She really should just get the flu shot, but no one was forcing her. She could easily say no, and walk out the door. But why should she have to risk getting sicker just because of a dumb fear? 

She sighed, shaking her head and plopping back on the table. “No, I’ll do it.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized what she’d done. He was quick to pull the blasted instrument of torture out, and she watched intently as he fills the syringe with clear liquid that was going to be stabbed into her skin. He very well could be injecting poison. The rational part of Anne’s brain reminded her that it was just a shot. It would be a pinch of pain, and then she wouldn’t get the flu and she could go home to ride out the rest of her harmless cold in peace. The _irrational_ part, however- 

“Get it away from me!”

The doctor froze, needle pointed right at her arm before yanking it away when Anne threw herself off the table, and out the door of the office. 

She was surprised when he didn’t follow her; he was probably shocked of how much a baby she was. She slid her back down the wall in the hallway. Burying her head in her knees, she gripped her bicep tightly, bruises sure to form. She couldn’t go through with it, not after the years of being so terrified of the stupid pieces of metal. Her eyes stung with tears, and she felt a sob wrack through her body. She didn’t look up until she felt a hand tugging her own away from the hold she had on her arm.

“Anne, baby, you’re gonna hurt your arm,” she heard Gilbert murmur. She sniffs, using her free hand to wipe away tears. He sits down on the floor next to her, keeping her hand in his own. “What’s wrong? What happened in there?”

His voice was laced with worry, and a pang of guilt shot through Anne. Maybe if she didn’t run out of the room like a child, she could of discussed the issue with the doctor about her fear, brought Gilbert in to be with her through the shot, and told him in advance nothing was wrong with her so he wouldn’t be afraid his girlfriend was dying.

“I have a cold, and he wants me to get a flu shot.” 

Gilberts eyebrow raised, and he looked towards the office door, needing more context. He brushed some hair out of Anne’s face, then peering into her eyes. 

“You just have a cold?”

Anne nodded, and her body was so on edge Gilbert hesitated before moving his hands to hoist her up off of the dirty care center floor.

“Yes, just a cold,” she said. “Nothing else is wrong with me, but he wants me to get a flu shot, and it’s ridiculous, and I want to go home now.”

He opened his mouth to respond, closes it, and then finally spoke.

“Lemme go in there with you, and I can be there next to you. It’ll be over before you know it, Anne. I won’t make you if you don’t want to, but I want you to get better quicker.”

A tear fell down her face, but Gilbert saw the slight nod, so he entangled their fingers and walked back into the office.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Anne whispered to the clearly muddled doctor. “I just don’t like needles. I’d like to get my flu shot now, though, and if it’s okay, I want my boyfriend to stay with me.”

Gilbert smiled and nodded at the doctor, who looked so tired that another round of guilt traveled through Anne’s gut. 

She propped herself up on the table, and Gilbert followed suit. The doctor once again picked up the syringe, and Anne buried her head into Gilbert’s shoulder. She could hardly believe she was being this way- Marilla would of scolded her for being so difficult. The doctor held her arm in between her fingers, and Anne lurches at the contact. A sob escaped her lips, and she tried again to bolt away from the needle, but Gilbert held her waist steady. She felt a pinch, and the feeling of the liquid being drained into her body. Anne sobs, and Gilbert shushes her soothingly.

“It’s done, love. Open your eyes.”

Anne didn’t even remember closing them. All she knew is there was a slight ache in her upper arm, and Gilbert had her body nestled against his. Her doctor watched on uncomfortably. 

“I- I can give you two a moment.” 

He sprinted out of the office, and Gilbert pressed his lips to the top of Anne’s head. Her eyes were so foggy she couldn’t see two feet in front of her. Gilbert traced the lines of the band-aid that was put over the injection. 

“You okay?”

Anne sighed, hands still shaking. _Of course she wasn’t okay_. She felt stupid. All of this trouble for a tiny pinprick she could barely feel. But when she remembered the sight of the needle coming towards her threateningly, she winced, abandoning her boyfriends touch and turning away from him.

“No,” she got out, before more tears fell. “I don’t like them. I don’t ever want to be near them again!”

Gilbert rested his hand in the space between them, and Anne subconsciously grabbed ahold of it. 

“I didn’t know you were this afraid of...” he trails off, not sure if he should say the word. 

“I’ve never liked those stupid things. In the orphanage they used to prick us with them ever couple of years, without any consent or warning. We didn’t get band-aids either.”

Anne’s jaw clenched, remembering being told by the nurses she’d better get vaccinations so she couldn’t spread her orphan-related diseases around. 

“I had no idea, Anne. I’m so sorry. If I had known, I wouldn’t of-“

She cut him off, leaning her head onto his shoulder once more.

“It’s okay. Thank you for just being here. I’d rather have a shot than the flu, I think. I just didn’t want to make it a huge deal.”

Gilbert realized they were probably taking up time and space in the exam room, and he stands up, bringing Anne up along with him.

“I we go home, get the tissue boxes, and I can make you some soup. How’s that sound?”

Anne smiled, gripping Gilbert’s hand. The pain in her arm was barely there, but if she thought about it for too long, she could feel the needle breaking skin.

She pushed those thoughts away, and followed her boyfriend out the door, where the only thing she had to think about was what kind of medicine would make her head feel better, and what TV show could make her forget about the runny nose and sore throat. 


End file.
